it is in the best interest of the student to be presented with differing views. The goals of the NACD are To establish and maintain current guidelines in the form of physical and psychological standards, as well as equipment and techniques necessary for safe cave diving To encourage education and dissemination of safe cave diving information throughout the facilities of the organization and to provide a program of education and advanced training essential for safe cave diving To achieve closer cooperation and understanding among members of the cave and recreational diving communities (and the general public) so they may work together toward the common goal of increasing safety in cavern and cave diving To explore underwater caves and to encourage education and dissemination of information to government, private industry and the general public. To accomplish these goals the NACD is organized to provide the following services The NACD training program was developed around issues that were causing fatalities in North Florida Springs. These issues are commonly referred to as the Guidelines of Accident Analysis. The guidelines, beginning with the most frequent cause for fatalities, are Lack of proper training for the overhead environment Lack of a continuous guideline to open water Failure to use proper gas management to plan dives Going too deep for the gas mix used Failure to use 3 lights/maintain equipment Cave diving can be extremely safe with proper training and by always abiding by the rules that have been established. Thus the need for training in cave diving was established. The NACD philosophy of safe cave diving is based on a system of checks and balances to insure that NACD standards are maintained in each course. The courses available are as described below: Cavern Diving The cavern diving course is taught in a minimum of two days and includes classroom lectures, field exercises, open water line drills and a minimum of four cavern dives. This course emphasizes planning, procedures, environment, propulsion techniques, buoyancy skills, problem solving, equipment modification and the focuses on the specialized needs of the cavern diver. The NACD encourages every diver to complete a cavern diving course. The cavern diving course has a significant safety benefit for all active scuba divers who enroll, even if they do not continue to dive in the overhead environment, introduces skills that are usable in all types of diving, develops dive planning abilities and problem solving procedures.